Most Common Names in China

Last July, Xmnext.com 新民网 reported the list of most common names in China. According to the report, the most common name is Zhang Wei, and there are 290,607 of them in China. Let's take look the top 10 list. It might be helpful when you exchange name cards with Chinese!!

Last name First name (its meaning) Sex Number of people
Zhang 张 Wei 伟 (great) M 290,607
Wang 王 Wei 伟 (great) M 281,568
Wang 王 Fang 芳 (fragrant) F 268,268
Li 李 Wei 伟 (great) M 260,980
Wang 王 Xiu Ying 秀英 (elegant, flower) F 246,737
Li 李 Xiu Ying 秀英 (elegant, flower) F 244,637
Li 李 Na 娜 (graceful) F 244,223
Zhang 张 Xiu Ying 秀英 (elegant, flower) F 236,266
Liu 刘 Wei 伟 (great) M 234,352
Zhang 张 Min 敏 (smart) F 233,708

Although the data is said to be from the Citizenship Inquiry Center of the Ministry of Public Security, who the most common name in China is still controversial. Popular first names for men are also : Jie 杰 (heroic), Yong 勇(brave), Qiang 强 (strong), Chao 超 (super) , Jun 军 (army), Tao 涛 (big wave), Ping 平 (peaceful) , Yang 洋 (ocean) etc. Popular first names for women are: Yan 艳 (glamorous) , Li 丽 (beautiful) Jing 静 (calm), Juan 娟 (beautiful).
To read this original article in Chinese, click here.

ChuSok-Korean Thanksgiving day

The Harvest Moon, Chusok 추석 is the autumn full moon day that falls on the 15th day of the eighth month by the lunar calendar, usually some time in September by the Gregorian calendar. It's on September 25th this year. Since its right after a weekend, most of the people enjoy 4~5 days of long holidays.
As this date marks harvest time, it is regarded as a Thanksgiving Day in Korea, and is celebrated almost as enthusiastically as New Year's Day. Media is constantly reporting traffic info, as highways, airports and train stations are full of people visiting their hometowns. People visit the graves of their ancestors, and they cook using the first fruits and crops of the year.


Songpyeon 송편 is a typical dish. It is a pine flavored rice cake stuffed with chestnuts, sesame, or beans. Usually whole family sit together to make songpyeon, oftern days before. Several games are commonly played including tug of war and the Korean round dance.

Ramen or Ramyen?

Ramen is a Japanese noodle dish which is originated from Chinese La Mian 拉麵, and Ramyen is its Korean counterpart. The original Chinese La Mian is hand cut egg noodle soup with sauce.
Ramen is a kind of Japanese style fast food, and one of the most common street foods. Many individual restaurants across Japan have built their own Ramen identity with their own distinctive flavor and style. They may even serve only one type of ramen, having perfected their recipe. Ramen is usually seasoned with miso (bean paste), shoyu (soy) or shio (salt), though the stock base is made from meat bones. They are often topped with meat, bean sprouts, or bamboo shoots. The Japanese version of Ramen is a fresh noodle soup with regional variations.

It is also readily available as instant ramen in supermarkets and convenience stores. Instant ramen was invented by Momofuku Ando 安藤百福, the founder of Nissin in Japan. (Momofuku Ando died on January 5th 2007 in Osaka Prefecture. He was 96.) First instant ramen in styrofoam container, called "Cup Noodles" was also invented by Momofuku Ando in 1971. He is said to come up with this idea when he saw his foreign buyer put instant noodle in the mug and pour hot water in it. Currently there are many kinds of instant noodles available, and Nissin alone makes 68 kinds of cup noodles. There is an interesting story about how cup noodles got popular in the beginning. In February 1972, there was a hostage and police seige incident, called Asama-Sanso Incident, which live- broadcasted for almost 11 hours in Japan. The police eating cup noodles during broadcast interested many Japanese.

In Korea, Ramyen 라면 only means instant noodles. It is a popular food item among students in Korea due to its ease of preparation and low cost. In Korea, there are around 130~140 different kinds of instant ramyen available as of 2005, and they are a popular export item. China, Taiwan and Indonesia consume high volume of instant noodles as well.

Instant noodles are always associated with health concerns despite its cheap price and convenience. It's high in carbohydrates but lack of minerals and vitamins. It's also high in sodium and MSG.

*How to make "healthier" instant noodles
1. Cook the noodles as package directed. Drain the noodle. This will help to lose oil contents. Run noodles in cold water. Set aside
2. Boil the "half" of water as package directed. Add "half" of the soup base. Add vegetables, eggs, shrimp, meat etc. Pour the soup over noodles.

Chinese Greetings 4- What's your name? My name is......

There are a few ways to ask someone's name in Chinese. Unless addressing a child, people usually use a polite way to ask names or last names.
The most common way is, ni(3) jiao(4) shen(2)me ming(2)zi 你叫什么名字? This means "what's your name?", and the order in Chinese is you + be called + what + name.

When addressing someone older than you, on the phone, or to business partners, you might want to politely ask their names. What's your last name? is nin(2) gui(4) xing(4) 您贵姓?. This sentence is a polite one because of the word gui(4) 贵, which means "your" in a polite way.

Let's answer these questions. My name is........ in Chinese is wo(3) jiao(4) 我叫……. If you just want to say your last name, say wo(3) xing(4) 我姓.....

Names of foreigners are usually transliterated based on the pronunciation. Although characters are chosen for their sound and good meaning as well. Exceptions are Japanese and Korean names which already have Chinese characters that Chinese read in their own Chinese pronunciation. For example: the Japanese last name Mazda (or Matsuda) 松田 is Songtian in Chinese. Here are some examples of English names and their Chinese names with meanings.
John : Yue(1) han(4) 约翰 (yue 约-simple, han 翰-brush)
Chris: Ke(4) li (3) si(1) 克里斯 (ke克-overcome, li 里-town, si 斯-gentle)
Susan : Su(1) shan(1) 苏珊 (su苏-come to, shan 珊-coral)

Chinese Greetings 3-I'm doing fine, and you?

When someone says ni(3) hao(3) 你好 to you, you might want to carry on the conversation. Let’s make an answer starting with I.

A: How are you? ni(3) hao(3) 你好?

B: I am doing fine, and you? Wo(3) hen(3) hao(3) 我很好, ni(3) ne 你呢?

Hen(3) 很 means quite or very. It modifies the following adjective.

Ne 呢 is a postposition used at the end of the interrogative sentence. This grammatical point sounds a little bit difficult but just remember, it is used to make a question sentence.

As you may have noticed, wo(3) hen(3) hao(3) 我很好 is three 3rd tones in a row. Since hen(3) hao(3) 很好 are related to each other (adverb and adjective), read it as half 3rd + 2nd + 3rd tones. When 3rd tone is followed by a neutral tone as in ni(3) ne 你呢, ni(3) 你 becomes half 3rd tone.

Kung Pao Chicken

Do you like Kung Pao chicken? Have you ever wondered why this dish is called Kung Pao?
Kung Pao chicken 宫保鸡丁 is a classic dish which originated from Sichuan province. The term Kung Pao is derived from the name of the government official title Gong Bao 宫保 of Ding Baozhen 丁宝桢(1820~1886) in the Qing dynasty. Ding was born in Guizhou province and served as a governor of Shandong province. He was quite a gourmet expert and had many famous cooks at home. He usually served stir-fry chicken when entertaining.

Later he transferred to Sichuan province and added chili peppers to his chicken dishes to meet the spicy loving Sichuan people's taste. He was titled as "Taizi Shaobao 太子少保" by the Qing dynasty and "Gong Bao 宫保" (literally means palatial guardian) is its honorary name. The way of making Kung Pao chicken is slightly different by region in China, and from its westernized version. Now its main ingredients can be pork, shrimp, or tofu. Regular dried chili peppers are used when Shichuan peppercorn is not available, which adds a distinct flavor to many Sichuan dishes.

How to make Kung Pao chicken

1/2 lbs chicken

1/2 cup peanuts

1/2 tsp sugar1 tsp vinegar

1 Tbs soy sauce

1tsp rice wine

2 tsp sesame oil

2 Tbs corn starch dissolved in water

Minced ginger, minced garlic and green onion slices

Cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes, and marinate with salt, pepper and corn starch for a half hour. To make sauce, mix soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, rice wine, starch water, sesame oil, garlic and ginger. Set aside. Fry the chicken and drain the oil. Leave 2 Tbs oil and fry chili peppers and green onions. Add chicken back into the pan and sauce. Add peanuts last. (If peanuts are raw, fry with chicken.)

*This is a traditional dish and every household or restaurants have their own way of making it. Measurements are for information only. Add more or less as you like.

Korean Greetings 2 -Thank you!

Yes : Ne 네 , Ye 예
No : Aniyo 아니요
Hello?(on the phone) : Yoboseyo? 여보세요?
(Yobo 여보 alone means "darling", used to call a spouse between couples. Don't forget the "seyo" on the phone!! )
Thank you :Kamsa hamnida 감사합니다 (Kamsa 감사 is from the Chinese characters 感謝.), Gomap sumnida 고맙습니다 (Originated from pure Korean.)
You are welcome : Chonmaneyo 천만에요 (Polite and formal), Aniyeyo 아니에요 (Informal and widely used.)
I'm sorry : Mian hamnida 미안합니다 , Joesong hamnida 죄송합니다 (Used for serious situation than "mian hamnida".)
Excuse me : Shilye hamnida 실례합니다